Traditionally, a telecommunications network is operated by a service provider to provide communications services to a large number of users, often covering a large geographical area. Each user, such as a business or an individual, is typically coupled to the network through an access link of some nature. An access link carries communication traffic between a user's location and a so-called “service edge” where the service provider has facilities to serve many users in a given vicinity. Each user may need a particular type of communication service, such as time-division multiplexed (TDM) communications, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) communications, frame relay (FR) communications, or even a mixture of these.
Access links often take the form of telephone subscriber loops which are leased from a local telephone company. A subscriber loop may be used to carry data in the form of TDM signals, such as a T1 or DS3 link. To establish such an access link, a user or service provider must order the facilities from the local telephone company. It is costly and time-consuming to obtain an access link, often requiring maintenance personnel to physically configure network elements. Consequently, an access link has tended to be a statically provisioned resource.
For example, a business enterprise operating in a metropolitan office building may contract with a service provider to provide communications services. A wideband/broadband connection to the building may be provided by the service provider or may be leased through another party such as a local telephone company. This involves initial installation cost and delay as well as recurring charges for the leased facility. Should the business enterprise, or a user in the enterprise, move to a different location and require the same array of access communications, the process (and costs and delays) of ordering and establishing an access connection at the new location would be repeated. Added costs and delays may also be incurred when a customer's needs expand to necessitate installing additional access connections.
Therefore, to reduce the costs and delays associated with providing services, and a variety of types of services, there is a need for a service-agnostic network resource such that users may move from location to location and have access to their services.